"We're here to prevent World War III from happening brother, and that's what we're going to do", explains Tex, one of a motley band of foreigners who have joined Russian-backed rebels in Ukraine. After Ukraine's pro-Russian President fled Kiev and the annexation of the Crimean peninsula by Russia, pro-Russian separatists took over Ukrainian government buildings and declared the area the Donetsk People's Republic. A year on and the city is in ruins, the streets are eerily quiet, and shelling continues between the rebels and Ukrainian government forces. "We've been left with nothing, only a pain in our hearts", says Anastasia, whose 17-year-old daughter was killed by a government rocket strike. But amid this bleakness, humanity shines. Nurse Svetlana stayed behind whilst others fled in order to tend to the sick. Olga, a young journalism student, is trying to help rebuild the shattered school in the village of Nikishina. "If we don't do anything now, we can lose this village, and lose its people", she says. Will this land stay part of Ukraine, move towards independence, or be completely swallowed by Russia?